FLEXIBLE DIETING
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ORIGINAL RECIPES BY ZACH ROCHELEAU
E B O O K D E S I G N E D B Y C H E AT D A Y D E S I G N
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FLEXIBLE DIETING: HOW YOU CAN EAT ICE CREAM AND STILL GET THAT 6 PACK!
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THE ULTIMATE “HOW TO” FOR FLEXIBLE DIETING MASTERY
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WHY POPULAR FAD DIETS WORK….AND WHY YOUR RESULTS DIDN’T LAST
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WHY BREAKFAST IS A FRAUD: MEAL/NUTRIENT TIMING 101
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RECIPES
EVERYTHING BAGEL
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FAJITA BURGER
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FUNFETTI CHEESECAKE WAFFLE DESSERT TACO
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PROTEIN DUNKAROOS
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FLEXIBLE DIETING: HOW YOU CAN EAT ICE
CREAM AND STILL GET THAT 6 PACK!
FORGET WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TOLD
Throughout our culture, we are taught that certain foods are “good” and certain foods are “bad.” It’s evident
everywhere you look.
Everyone has their own conceptions of what is considered healthy from low carb, vegan, paleo, keto,
vegetarian, and many more. Do you notice that there is a million different definitions of healthy?
For the sake of this post, lets consider “healthy” as high quality, minimally processed, micronutrient dense
foods. Is that ok with you?
Most people think that in order for them to reach their fitness or body composition goals, they have to cut
out all the “unhealthy food” from their diets and eat extremely strict/boring diet. Studies have shown that
those who have a rigid/strict diet actually put them at a higher risk to binge on the food they were trying to
eliminate.
I am a firm believer that if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. But having the “perfect” diet is not
synonymous with having a “successful” diet either.
Plus if you eat a super strict/boring diet, then you pretty much alienate yourself from society as well and who
wants that? You will find yourself saying, “sorry guys I can’t go out to eat and watch the Final Four because I
can’t mess up my diet or go off my meal plan.”
What if I were to tell you that you don’t have to be that person!?
THE PERFECT DIET FOR YOU
First, you need to ask yourself when starting a diet is, “Can I see myself doing this diet for the rest of my
life?” If not, then it is the absolute wrong diet for you! You will eventually fall into one of these three
categories:
1. You’ll get tired of the rules and quit your plan before reaching your goals.
2. You will reach your goal and then get tired of the rules and quit.
3. You will reach your goal and maintain our progress, but you’ll be so miserable that being lean isn’t worth it
anymore. Then you quit and/or go crazy.
Now we need to ask ourselves these simple questions:
1. Do you want to lose fat and stay lean with minimal effort?
2. Are you tired of losing 10 lbs and then regaining it all back after your diet stops working?
3. Are you tired of giving up your favorite foods in order to lose weight?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, Flexible Dieting is for you!
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THE DECISION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Just over 5 years ago, I decided to give Flexible Dieting a try. I’ll be candid and tell you that deciding to
start flexible dieting is in the top 3 of the best decisions I’ve ever made! (It’s up there with my religious
denomination and starting my business, if that gives you any perspective.)
My relationship with food is amazing now! Food is no longer the enemy! I do not eliminate any foods from
my diet. If I am craving ice cream, I most definitely will be having ice cream!
I started Flexible Dieting Lifestyle because I work with people on an everyday basis who struggle with their
relationships with food. I was once one of them. They are constantly stressing themselves out with eating
“clean” 24/7 and if they eat a type of food that is considered “bad”, then they beat themselves up about it.
This type of relationship with food has led to so many people to developing eating disorders.
Here are a few questions to consider:
• What are the foods that you eliminate from your diet when you try to lose weight?
• Does this lead you to binge on those foods?
We all have a list of 3-5 of our favorites foods that are eliminated right away! That sucks! And what is the
worst is that it creates this “win/loss” mindset with our nutrition. We are winning when we do not have those
foods. And we have lost when we do. Or we call that “cheating”. And what’s the worst is that when we do
“cheat”, we have this “get it out of your system” mindset that leads up to a glorified binge…. Trust me, I was
that person for so long. You are not along if you’ve struggled with this.
To say Flexible Dieting has changed my life would be an understatement! I am now in control. It has provided
me with Nutritional Freedom! And I want to help you learn everything you need to know in order to achieve
Nutritional Freedom too! So lets get into what flexible dieting is, how it works, and how you can integrate it
into your life so you can get that 6 pack you’ve always wanted or even get back into those high school jeans
of yours!
“Flexible Dieting allowed me to stop worrying about
food. I no longer saw food as “good” or “bad” but
instead I saw it as fuel for my workouts. This mindset
change allowed me to have a much better relationship
with food and in return I was able to eat ice cream and
transform my body while doing zero cardio!”
Perrin’s 3 month transformation
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SO WHAT IS FLEXIBLE DIETING!?
Flexible Dieting, is most simply the tracking of your macronutrient intake to achieve a health and body
composition goal. Your macronutrients are your proteins, carbs and fats. These macronutrients are the
nutrients you need in large amount and are what give you your calories.
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
​1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
​1 gram of fat = 9 calories
​Most people are familiar with counting calories, but Flexible Dieting focuses on tracking your macronutrients.
So you and I are more focused on hitting 175g Protein, 140g Carbs and 60g Fat, which equals 1800 calories
rather than just 1800 calories.
P​ rotein: 175 x 4= 700 calories
Carbs: 140 x 4 = 560 calories
Fats: 60 x 9 = 540 calories
When all these 3 are added up, you get a total of 1800 calories. Why does this matter for you to get the
specific amounts of macronutrients in order to reach 1800 calories!? I’ll touch on that next.
CALORIES VS. MACRONUTRIENTS
Well calories in vs calories out is what determines weight loss or weight gain but macronutrient ratios are
what influence our body composition/optimal health rather than just weight loss or gain.
•​ Sufficient Protein intake is necessary to build/preserve muscle mass and organ tissue.
• Sufficient Carb intake is necessary to provide your muscles with enough energy (glycogen) so you can hit
your workouts with high intensity. They also play a huge role in the health of your Thyroid (engine for your
metabolism).
• Sufficient Fat intake is necessary for production of vital hormones (hormone synthesis) that set the tone for
all of the functions in our bodies.
WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?
So the question arises, would you rather be a lean 165 or a skinny fat 165?
This is why counting macros is far superior to counting calories because it
allows you to focus on improving body composition, not just focusing on
the scale. I’ve had clients who’s weight stayed the same or went up when
we switched around their macronutrient profile even though their goal was
weight loss.
Just look at Alex, pictured above, who was skinny fat in his before picture. In 2 months time, he dropped 7%
body fat and gained 17 lbs! Not only that but he was able to eat twice as many calories due to his increases
in muscle mass! That’s pretty damn awesome! Getting leaner and building crazy amount of muscle. I think
we all want that and it is living proof that macronutrient ratio is more important than just counting calories!
Ohh and don’t forget about his girlfriend (Perrin, testimonial above) that did the same thing! Flexible dieting
turned them into a power couple!
POP TARTS VS SWEET POTATOES
Ok…. Now to get to the part where it is going to sound like voodoo or magic, or whatever you want to call it.
What you eat to hit your macronutrient targets is secondary in importance when we are talking about strictly
body composition. So what does this exactly mean?
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​Ex. Your friend eats a pop tart for his snack and you eat a sweet potato.
• Both are carb heavy choices. One is considered “good” and one is considered “bad”
• As we stated above, carbs in the pop tart and carbs from the sweet potato both turn into energy
(glycogen).
• So since our bodies do not necessarily distinguish between sources in regards to glycogen production,
both will have the same affect in our bodies.
Ok so you must be thinking that I am advocating that you can only eat McDonalds, Poptarts, Ice Cream,
Pizza, and any other food you once thought were off limits and still get shredded/toned/whatever you want
to call it!? Well yes…….. and no.
ACUTE VS INSIDIOUS DAMAGE
Just as why I advocate the flexible dieting strategy to anyone and every one because it is the diet you can
use for the rest of your life, I also advocate that our diet should be a tool to ensure that we live a long and
healthy life!
A​cute symptoms and affects are what you will see in the short term
Insidious symptoms and affects are the small changes that you will see in the long run.
Most people think in the short term and do not think of the long term repercussions of their decisions. The
same can be said with our diets.
Ex. So lets say that our diet is consists of low quality protein sources like McDonalds, micronutrient
sparse pop tarts, and a large amount of our dietary fat coming from the trans fat that tags along with our
McDonalds.
Let’s go back to our example above.
Sweet Potato vs. Pop Tart
At the macro level, these are the same but at the micronutrient level, they are not. I want you to think of your
micronutrients as little buckets of life giving nutrients that you need to fill up on a daily basis.
Sweet Potatoes offer you tons of micronutrients.
Pop Tarts do not….
Sweet Potatoes also give you a lot of dietary fiber, which you will learn how important it is later in this post.
So if we take the route of taking in low quality sources of food to reach our body composition goals, we are
putting our overall healthy at risk. We might not see any short term, acute problems to our health, but in the
long run, the insidious damage that will occur will lead to us increasing our risk for developing cancer later
on in life. Just think, somebody doesn’t just wake up at 50 and get cancer. It is something that is a result of a
lifetime of experiences that the body has been through. So take my advice in the next section because ain’t
nobody got time for cancer!
THE PERFECT RATIO FOR HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE: THE 80/20 RULE
80% of your daily calories come from healthy (high quality, minimally processed, micronutrients dense) foods
that you enjoy.
20% of you daily calories come from those foods that are at the opposite end of the spectrum that you once
thought were off limits.
3 meals per day for 7 days = 21 meals
.2 x 21 = 4.2 (so lets just say 4)
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Number of meals per week to incorporate my favorite foods: 4 meals per week
The Best Diet is the one you can stick to.
• By not putting any foods off limits then you substantially reduce the risk of binging, developing an eating disorder, excessive concern with body size/shape, and an increased risk of rebound weight gain
after dieting.
• By all means am I not advocating that you can’t eat 100% “clean”! If you thoroughly enjoy eating 100%
healthy, minimally processed, nutrient dense foods, then go for it!
But there is one key understanding I need you to have. Remember our buckets of micronutrients I mentioned
above? Those buckets can be filled with with 80/20 strategy. Overflowing those buckets do not give you any
added benefits. So if hitting 80/20 or even 90/10 or even 99/1 makes you feel less stress than 100%, then
please do that! The chronic stress of trying to eat 100% clean is really what is taking years off our lives!
SO WHAT IS FLEXIBLE DIETING!?
•​ A diet that allows ALL Foods and is more focused on the hitting of our overall nutritional needs.
• A diet that allows ALL meats, fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains, nuts and legumes (beans) without demonizing
any whole food source.
• A diet that is not a diet. It is simply nothing more than an understanding that all foods can be had to
achieve sufficient nutritional intake for health and body composition. Life balance is the key to long term
dietary success.
• Is a form of eating that allows you to enjoy foods without guilt of self punishment.
WHAT YOU LEARNED TODAY
​Eat smart and flexible, not stupid and restricted.
Food is not meant to stress you out! It’s a tool that helps us live the life we desire!
If you are currently doing a diet you do not see yourself doing for the rest of your life, STOP immediately.
Eliminating foods you love from your diet sets you up for failure and science shows that.
Calories in vs calories out = weight gain or weight loss
Macronutrient Ratios = Body Composition/Health
The 80-20 Rule = 80% from “healthy” foods, 20% from foods you once thought were off limits
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THE ULTIMATE “HOW TO” FOR FLEXIBLE
DIETING MASTERY
STEP 1: ASSEMBLING OUR FLEXIBLE DIETING TOOL KIT
1. Digital Food Scale (this is the one I personally use and it works really well)​
2. Download The MyFitnessPal App
STEP 2: LEARN HOW TO USE BOTH OF THESE TOOLS
1. How to use digital food scale video
• I created a step by step video on how to use it with ease!
2. How to use MyFitnessPal video
MyFitnessPal can seem daunting but in this video I show how it can save you sooo much time and make
tracking your macros a breeze.
STEP 3: HOW TO WEIGH FOODS WITH FOOD LABEL
FOODS WITH FOOD LABEL
When flexible dieting, foods with food labels make life super duper easy. They will more than likely have a
barcode you can scan with the MyFitnessPal app and it’ll pull up the nutritional info right up.
SERVING SIZES
This is super important and something that most people do not look at!
Almost everything you consume has multiple servings in it and the food label is only per serving
Ex. The Poptart
• We all know that pop tart packages come in packs of two and most would assume that a serving size
would be 1 pack. Well at least I always thought that.
• A lot of my clients have not been accurate with their tracking in the beginning because of misreading of
serving sizes.
• So if you eat a pack of pop tarts (2 pastries instead of 1) you are eating 380 calories, 10g fat, 68g carbs
and 4g protein instead of 190 calories 5g fat, 34g carbs and 2g protein. Thats a BIG difference!
• So don’t get tricked by those serving sizes!
MEASURING DA MEATS
​Most meat products have nutritional labels on them when you buy them from the store. If you buy from a
butcher or farm, you can search the nutritional information of the cut just from a simple google search or on
MyFitnessPal.
The food label on the meat package is the serving size weighed out raw.
• Ex. Publix 97% lean chicken breast. Look at the food label and notice that it will say 4 oz “raw” for the
nutritional info that comes out to be around 3g fat, 0g carb and 24g protein. That means that you have to
weigh it out raw in order to use that info.
If you want to weigh your chicken out cooked, you will multiply how ever ounces you have cooked by 1.4 to
get the nutritional info because the cooking process dehydrates the chicken causing it to be lighter when
cooked. (this is an estimation, not a perfect science)
• Ex. You have 5.25 oz of cooked chicken breast. You would multiply by 1.4 to get the actual nutritional
info of the raw chicken breast.
You would get 7.35 oz of chicken
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So you would use that 7.35 and divide that by 4 to get the serving size of 4 oz raw chicken breast (stated
above) which would come out to be 1.8125. Then you would put that into myfitnesspal and it’ll spit of 5.5g
fat, 0g carbs and 43.5g protein.
STEP 4: MEASURING FOODS WITHOUT FOOD LABEL
FRUITS AND VEGGIES​
​A simply google search will yield you many different options. For example: If you wanted to find the
nutritional information for a red delicious apple, you would simply search “USDA Red Delicious Apple.”
You will get options like:
Calorieking, MyFitnessPal, Fatsecret, Sparkpeople
Just pick one of those nutritional info websites and then add it into MyFitnessPal or search MyFitnessPal and
find an entry that is in line with the nutritional info you found on one of those sites. It is that easy!
STEP 5: EATING OUT AT RESTAURANTS
TRACK MACROS AND STILL HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE​
​Have you ever had that moment when you were either on a diet or on a meal plan and your friends were
like, “hey you wanna go out and grab a bite to eat with me?”
​ ou respond with, “Sorry, I am on a diet and I can’t have those type of foods.” Or even better with, “Sorry
Y
that does not go along with my meal plan.”
​ ell one of the best things about flexible dieting is the fact that you can eat out and still hit your macros =
W
you getting lean while not being antisocial hermit
The whole point of flexible dieting is to provide you with freedom and being able to eat out is one of those
freedoms unlike a following a meal plan that is boring and not flexible.
T​ IP #1: PLAN AHEAD BEFORE YOU GO
The key to hitting your macros while eating out it to plan ahead what you are going to get from these
restaurants and plug it into your macros
Most restaurants have nutritional information online (this information is usually within 90% accurate so that is
close enough)
TIP #2: OVERESTIMATING OR UNDERESTIMATING
If you are cutting overestimate by at least 10% on the fat and carbs numbers they give you while
underestimating on the protein by 10%. If you are not cutting, then don’t stress over it!
TIP #3: WHAT IF I GO TO A LOCAL MEXICAN RESTAURANT THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE NUTRITIONAL
INFORMATION ONLINE!? I’M SCREWED RIGHT?
You can always find a restaurant that is similar to the place you are going to.
Chipotle’s nutritional calculator online for Mexican restaurants
Sub place (look up Subway or Firehouse)
Pizza place (Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns)
Italian restaurant (Olive Garden)
Seafood restaurant (Red Lobster)
Breakfast restaurant (IHop, Denny’s)
Southern food restaurant (Sonny’s, Cracker Barrel)
Burger restaurant (The Counter Burger, Five Guys)
I think you get the idea. Don’t stress over the fact that it is not the actual restaurant. It is close enough!
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STEP 6: LEARNING TO EYEBALL PORTION SIZES
Not becoming a slave to your scale: The ultimate goal
When you are measuring out your foods, start to take notice of what a serving size looks like for each food
choice. This important for a few reasons:
1. Not to have to weigh every single little thing you eat
2. Give you the freedom to still be able to go to family or friends parties, and still be able to hit your macros.
You are able to eyeball portion sizes and guestimate.
3. Go on vacation without your scale! Everyone dreads the weight they gain on vacation but with the ability
to eyeball, you will probably come back lighter than when you left! (this happens to me almost every time!)
4. Then no more scale at all because you can eat track intuitively!
​ OW I GOT REALLY GOOD AT EYEBALLING:
H
When I knew I wasn’t good at eyeballing a certain type of food, I would make a game out of trying to guess
serving sizes. How to play:
1. First, take your scale and what ever plate or bowl you are going to be using and zero it out on the scale.
2. Then, take the bowl or plate off the scale and try to eyeball the serving size you want to have.
3. For example, if you are weighing out oatmeal and you want 1 serving (40g), see if you can pour a 40g
serving just by eyeballing it.
4. To test, you simply put the bowl or plate onto the scale and then you get to see how close you were!
5. The goal is to be within 10% almost every time in order to classify yourself as a master eye baller!
I’ll be honest, this takes a lot of practice but in the long run, it is such a liberating feeling to be in control no
matter the situation!
STEP 7: HOW TO SET UP YOUR CALORIES AND MACROS
SETTING CALORIES
There are several approaches to finding your caloric intake. The equation that you use to find your caloric
intake will just give you a rough estimate of where to start. The most important thing will be to track your
progress and make adjustments accordingly. The following guidelines will help you estimate your caloric
intake by using your current body weight and multiplying it by a number in that range that fits best with your
goals.
• 11-14: If you want to be in a caloric deficit and lose weight
• 14-16: If you want to find your maintenance calorie intake
• 16-18: If you want to be in a caloric surplus and gain weight
Keep in mind that these are highly variable but in general, they should give you a good starting point! Start
with these and adjust according to how your body reacts. This is where keeping tabs on body weight,
pictures, and measurements can come into play.
For example, if you weigh 175lbs but maintain weight eating 2,450kcal (175 x 14), then you will need to
adjust. You will need to have a 500kcal deficit to lose 1lb per week and this will result in you eating 1,950kcal
per day; which is approximately bodyweight times 11.
It is important to note that you should not make adjustments after just a few days of your new caloric intake.
Before you decide to make an adjustment, you should compare the average weigh in from two weeks.
Why not after a few days? Because when you make a change to your caloric intake, your body will have
survival responses due to the stress of less calories. This will make the next week or so of weigh ins a bit all
over the place. That’s why it is incredibly important to be patient and let 2 weeks be your judge. I cover this
more in the video talking about how to track your progress.
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SETTING PROTEIN
Your body is constantly going through two processes: protein synthesis and protein breakdown. In order to
gain muscle, you must synthesize more protein than you break down. Thus, we need to set a protein intake
that causes your net protein synthesis (balance) to exceed net protein breakdown -- we need the building to
be greater than the breakdown.
This protein intake lies in between 0.82g-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. There is no research
to show that any protein intake above this amount will be beneficial to building muscle. In fact, there is very
little research to support that any intake above 0.82g/lb will be beneficial to muscle gain – even in dieting
conditions. You will hear of “1g/lb” thrown around quite a bit within popular media and this is because 1 is
just simply easier to remember than .82, respectfully.
Aim for the high end of the scale if: you are a novice, have a low level of body fat, or if you’re dieting.
Aim for the low end of the scale if: you are advanced, have a lot of body fat or if you’re bulking.
So what this would look like is taking your current bodyweight and multiplying is by 0.82 to get your protein
intake. Let me show you below:
Let’s say you weigh 150lbs. You would simply: 150 x 1g/lb Bodyweight = 150g Protein!
It’s that simple! And remember, if you love protein, do not be afraid of going to the upper end of that
spectrum of 1.2g/lb bodyweight. I personally hang around that number because I love protein rich foods.
And also, protein is super satiating (keeps you full), thus a higher protein intake will result in your being full
most of the time. This is powerful because you can be full on less calories thus will make losing weight must
easier!
SETTING FAT INTAKE
Adjusting your fat intake depends on two things: personal preference and carbohydrate tolerance. Before
getting into exact numbers, let’s discuss why optimizing fat intake is so important:
Fat intake has been found to be directly linked to the production of anabolic (building) hormones such as
testosterone, growth hormone and IGF-1 (Volek et al., 1997). However, they are essential to functions that
extend far beyond helping you make muscle gains. Fats are essential for the very structure of your cells,
carrying essential fat-soluble vitamins and incredibly important brain and cognitive function. In fact, your
brain is 60% fat!
So this is how I want you to think of your fat intake. Huge health problems are insidious. This means that
they happen over time. Small little cracks in your foundation each day turn into much bigger ones over time.
So getting your fat intake in most of the time is going to ensure to protect you against any cracks to your
foundation.
In other words, fat is very important. Fat should be set to 25-30% of your total calories. Fats have 9kcal/g,
thus to find your fat intake you should use the following equation
That formula will provide how many grams of fat you should have per day if you are consuming 30% of your
calories from fat.
So let’s say just like our example above, you weigh 150lbs. You are in a fat loss phase and your calories are
1800. You want to eat 30% of your calories from fat.
So here is how that would work out:
You would need to first figure out how many calories from fat your will be taking in. You’d do this by taking
1800 and multiplying it by 0.3
1800 x 0.3 = 540 Calories from Fat
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Then you would divide 540 calories by 9 because remember, each gram of fat has 9 calories per gram.
540 / 9 = 60g Fat
So you’d be taking in 60g Fat per day.
The exception to this rule is if you are dieting and your calories have heavily dropped. Fats should not be
dropped below 35g/day for women and 45g/day for men; even if this means they are more than 30% of total
daily calories.
SETTING CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE
And remember like we talked about above, carbohydrates contains 4kcal per gram. And in regard to your
macros, you carb intake should make up the rest of your calories.
So up let’s use that same example of if you weigh 150lbs and are trying to lose fat. You currently are at 150g
Protein and 60g Fat. What we need to do now is figure the total amount of calories are coming from each of
those macros and then subtract it from 1800 to see how much is left.
150 x 4 = 600 Calories from Protein
160 x 9 = 540 Calories from Fat
600 + 540 = 1140 Calories
So now we need to subtract 1140 calories from 1800 to find how many calories will come from carbs!
1800 - 1140 = 660 Calories for Carbs
Now we need to figure out how many carbs are in 660 Calories. So we divide 660 by 4 because each grams
of carbs has 4 calories per gram.
660 / 4 = 165g Carbs
So now we have our macros!
165g Carbs, 60g Fat and 150g Protein!
But now the question arises…. What about Fiber!?
SETTING FIBER INTAKE
WHY IT IS SUPER IMPORTANT AND HOW MUCH YOU SHOULD BE TAKING IN...
Americans consumes about 15g of fiber per day on average..... I eat that much before 8:00am Fiber is a
thermogenic which simply means that is takes a lot of energy (calories) to digest them. So thus someone
eating 250g carbs per day with 15g fiber is much different metabolically than someone who is eating 250g
carbs per day with 40g fiber due to the difference in thermogenesis.
• Important for gut health and motility.
• Blunts insulin response from higher glycemic carbs
• Thus low fiber diets are associated with many health problems such as
• Cardiovascular disease and high blood fats
• GI Disorders, cancers and poor bowel function • Diabetes
• Excess Body Fat
• High Blood Pressure
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So how much is enough!?
• Women should aim for 20-30g of fiber a day
• Men should aim for around 30g-45g per day
And I know people who can go all the way up to the 60g-70g per day and feel great so listen to your body
with fiber intake. These are just suggestions. If you feel bloated and are above the normal suggestions I’ve
made, then cut it back a bit and see how you feel.
Pro tip: Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans are all high in fiber so add those into your diet to easily
hit your fiber.
BONUS FAQS
FAT LOSS HAS STOPPED AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. HOW DO I MODIFY MY MACROS IN
ORDER TO GET THE FAT LOSS STARTED AGAIN!?
First, we want make as small of a change to our calories as possible in order to create fat loss
Ex. Fat loss has stalled at 1900 calories so all you do is take away 100 calories and see if fat loss starts again
for at least 1 week.
But which macronutrient do you take the calories from?
From either your carbs or fats. Protein always stays at least at 1g/lb of bodyweight and should be higher
during fat loss phases. Preferably 1.25 during fat loss phase to ensure you don’t lose any of your hard earned
gainzzzz
How do you determine if you take from your carbs or fats?
Most times you will take from your carb intake but if your fat % is higher than your carb % then you take from
your fats first.
I HEARD FAT MAKES YOU FAT! IS THIS TRUE!?
(I still get this question on a daily basis when I first give my client their macros)
In short, dietary fat does not make you fat.
Dietary fat is digested much slower because it is a much denser source of energy compared to carbs or
protein. Remember dietary fat has 9 calories per gram compared to protein and carbs 4 calories per gram.
I LOVE ALCOHOL AND WANT TO STILL GO OUT AND DRINK WITH MY FRIEND. DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP
ALCOHOL OR MY TREASURED WINE IN ORDER TO GET IN GREAT SHAPE?
​1g alcohol = 7 cals
Track alcohol by taking the calories of your drink of choice and then divide it by 9. You will subtract this
number from your daily allotment of fats.
Why fats and not carbs?
The main site of alcohol metabolism is in liver and also in the brain which is why you get intoxicated when
consuming too much.
Alcohol is digested in the liver as a poison, as in, your body has no capacity to store it like the other
macronutrients. Thus it is given top priority by our metabolism to get rid of it.
This increased urgency to metabolize the alcohol substantially slow dietary fat metabolism thus causing a
big increase in the chances that dietary fat intake while consuming alcohol will be stored as fat.
Beer example: 1 12oz Bud Light = 110 calories
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The main site of alcohol metabolism is in liver and also in the brain which is why you get intoxicated when
consuming too much.
Alcohol is digested in the liver as a poison, as in, your body has no capacity to store it like the other
macronutrients. Thus it is given top priority by our metabolism to get rid of it.
This increased urgency to metabolize the alcohol substantially slow dietary fat metabolism thus causing a
big increase in the chances that dietary fat intake while consuming alcohol will be stored as fat.
Beer example: 1 12oz Bud Light = 110 calories
• 4 cals/g carbs so you divide 110 by 9 and you get 12.2g
• Then you subtract 12g from your fats for the day
• So if you were eating 60g of fats for the day, you would have 48g of fat left.
Liquor example: Whiskey and Diet Coke
• 0 cals for the diet coke. 1 shot of whiskey = 72 calories.
• Divide 72 by 9 and you get 8.
• Then you subtract 8g from your fats for the day.
Wine Example:
• 5oz glass of red wine = 125 cals
• Divide 125 by 9 and you get 13.888
• Subtract 14g from your fats for the day
• 5oz glass of White Wine = 120 cals
• Divide 120 by 9 and you get 13.3333
• Subtract 13g from your carbs for the day
​ K I AM SUPER EXCITED TO START COUNTING MY MACROS BUT SHOULD I STILL COUNT MY
O
CALORIES!?
Nope! you only have to worry about the macros because remember that our macros are what make up our
calories!
If we hit 150g protein, 200g carbs and 50g fat then we will hit our calorie goal of the day of 1850 calories
150g protein x 4 = 600 cals, 200g carbs x 4 = 800 cals, 50g fat x 9 = 450cals
600 + 800 + 450 = 1850 calories! It’s magic!
So just hit your macros and you are good to go!
IS THE WORLD GOING TO END IF I DON’T HIT MY MACROS EXACTLY!!??
Absolutely not! Unless you are 3-4 weeks out from a physique competition, don’t freak out!
You want to at least be within 10% of your macros.
I HIT MY MACROS BUT I DIDN’T HIT MY CALORIES! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?
This is not your fault! It’s the FDA’s fault! The FDA allows food companies to round their calorie totals down in
order to get pretty even numbers. Complete crap if you ask me….
So for example, this label to our right says this food has 190 cals per serving. But when you do the math:
17g fat x 9 cals per g = 153 calories
6g carbs x 4 cals per g = 24 cals
7g protein x 4 cals per g = 28 cals
153 + 24 + 28 = 205 calories!
Says 190 Calories when its really 205! FRAUDS!
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WHAT DO I DO IF I WENT OVER ON MY CARBS FOR THE DAY BUT STILL HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF
CALORIES LEFT TO HIT!?
Not a big deal! All you will do is figure out how many grams of carbs you went over by and then subtract that
from either your fats or protein intake for the day.
Example: You went over your carbs by 30g which equates to about 120 cals.
You could take the calories from your fat intake for the day which you could do by dividing 120 by 9. This will
give us about 13g of fat to take away in order for us to hit our calorie goal
In the short run, this is not a big problem at all! Just make sure you hit your calorie goal by subtracting your
fats for the day in order to make up for our increased intake of carbs!
And yes you can do the opposite if you go way over on your fat intake. Simply multiple how many grams your
went over and multiply it by 9 to get the calories. Then divide that by 4 and that is how many grams of carbs
you need to subtract.
WHAT IF I GO CRAZY AND EAT LIKE JOEY CHESTNUT AT THE HOTDOG EATING CONTEST AND GO
WAY OVER MY MACROS!?
Not a big deal at all! Use that extra fuel the next day to kill your workout!
But if it is something that you are worried about, Just make sure the next day you try and go under your
normal intake to balance it out. And no I do not mean starve yourself! Just a little bit less than normal
Hit your normal protein intake or even slightly above but go under on your carbs and fat intake.
I’M NOT HUNGRY IN THE MORNING AND LIKE TO JUST DRINK MY COFFEE AND GET MY DAY
STARTED. DO I HAVE TO EAT BREAKFAST SINCE IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY?
Nope! You are than welcome to skip breakfast and just have your coffee!
As long as you hit your macros by the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you eat it all for dinner, breakfast or
spread it out across the day.
I DON’T HAVE A DIGITAL FOOD SCALE BUT I HAVE MEASURING CUPS. CAN I JUST USE THEM?
A digital food scale is super accurate. Measuring cups are not.
Some days you are going to be more hungry than others and you will be tempted to do a heaping cup full
instead of just a cup. This leads to you consuming an extra 200-300 calories in a day. Over the course of the
week that can lead to upwards of 1000-2000 calories!
Get a digital food scale please. Here’s the link again! Order it!
DO I HAVE TO COUNT MACROS FOREVER!?
Absolutely not!
After a while, you’ll see that you have a good idea of what and how much you need to eat to maintain your
weight and/or leanness.
This takes time but once you learn how to eyeball portion sizes and listen to your bodies hunger cues,
flexible dieting will allow you to have the most sustainable diet you will ever have!
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WHY POPULAR FAD DIETS WORK….AND WHY
YOUR RESULTS DIDN’T LAST
“History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes.” –Mark Twain
So why the quote from the man, the myth, the legend, Mark Twain!? Because I am going to tell you from the
very beginning, all diets are built around the same principles. They are not special and none of these diets
defy science.
I’m here to show you how each and every one of these diets trick you into thinking they are different. Ohh
and trust me, they’ve tricked me too! I first thought that I couldn’t eat carbs late at night and would not touch
carbs close to bed at all! Then I joined the Paleo cult and was all about it! You couldn’t get me to go off my
diet at all! But when I did…. holy moly cheat day extravaganza! Which is not good and leads to a very terrible
relationship with food. But enough about me! Lets get back on topic!
T​ he weight loss industry is a massive accounting for over $65 billion dollar in 2014. In the world, there are
currently over 1.6 billion people who are overweight.
​There is so much information out there on the news, in books, magazines, podcasts, blogs, etc.
To go along with all this information, there are hundreds of special diets people are utilizing to lose
substantial amounts of weight. You probably have 5 friends who are on 5 different diets and have all lost a
bunch of weight. They all swear by their diets but you have no idea what to believe.
​ ou’ve wasted so much time over the years trying to lose weight and achieve the body you desire that you
Y
are desperate for the diet that will work for you.
But you keep wondering to yourself, “How come all of my friends are on different diets but all achieved very
similar results?”
HOW ALL THESE DIETS WORK
All these diets have a common theme which, unless you are well versed in nutritional professional, you will
not even notice.
All these diets trick you into eating less.
When you are in a caloric deficit, you will always lose weight.
The very simple law of thermodynamics gives us the understanding that weight loss is simply consuming less
calories than you are burning. This causes a caloric deficit. If you are not losing weight, then you are not in a
caloric deficit. That means you need to be eating less and/or moving more.
THE TRICKS AND NO TREATS
Have you ever been told that eating a certain food will make you fat? Certain foods like bread, candy, ice
cream, cake, cup cakes, pop tarts, cereal, white rice, and all the goodies we all love. I know you’ve all been
told this and believed it.
Ok so now lets put on our thinking hats and understand why this would trick us into eating fewer calories.
Well first off, all of the foods I named are very dense in calories relative to the volume of food you get. Not
only are you cutting out all these calorically dense foods, you are substituting in more higher volume foods
such as a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.
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Let’s compare two different food choices so we can get a better understanding of what is happening here:
​100g of broccoli vs. 100g of Ben & Jerrys Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream:
100g broccoli = 28 cals, 0g fat, 5.2g carbs, 3g protein
100g B&J’s = 245 cals, 12g fat, 27g carbs, 5g protein
For the same volume of food, you are taking in 217 fewer calories than you were before. And lets be honest,
you will be eating a whole lot more than 100g worth of Ben & Jerry’s! I mean at least I would be….
Ok lets do some calculations here to make this more apparent. So lets say we tried to eat the same amount
of calories in 100g worth of Ben & Jerry’s with broccoli. That would be the equivalent of eat 875g worth of
broccoli! That’s 8.75 servings of that 100g picture above. Are you starting to catch on how they are tricking
you!? Trying to eat 8.75 servings of broccoli would make you so full you’d want to explode but the same
amount of calories in Ben & Jerry’s leaves you unsatisfied and wanting more!
THE WILDCARD
All weight loss diets emphasize you to eat a whole lot more protein. What’s so special about increasing your
protein intake? Protein is the most satiating (keeps us full) of the three macronutrients.
There was an interesting study done analyzing the effects of a higher protein diet on overall caloric intake
and the results were pretty remarkable. The participants in the study on average consumed 1,300 less
calories per day without getting hungry with their increased protein intake. That’s pretty crazy!
Ok so all you vegans out there must thinking that you are special because you don’t eat a high protein diet
because you don’t eat animal products like meat and dairy. Well yes you are eating substantially less protein
than most other diets advise but you are eating far more vegetables and fruits which are super high in fiber,
water and overall food volume. This allows vegans to trick themselves into eating few calories.
The moral of the story is that all these diets eliminate the higher calorie choices and force you to eat high
volume, lower calorie options which help you lose weight. The crazy thing is that all these people have no
idea that they are eating less.
I​f you ask someone to estimate their caloric intake, they are almost always wrong. For example, those who
say they can’t lose weight by reducing their caloric intake, underestimate their caloric intake by almost 47%!
Not only that but they overestimate their exercise by 51%! That’s a massive error! To top it off, other studies
have shown that people often underreport their caloric intake by up to 2,000 calories per day! Holy crap!
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
There is absolutely nothing magical about weight loss diets. They trick you into eating less without you
realizing it.
BOUND TO FAIL BEFORE YOU START
What is the first thing these diets tell you when you start? They go through a list of foods that are off limits.
There goes your ice cream, sweet tea, cookies, chips, popcorn, candy, red wine, and pretty much everything
you love. You start the diet with a negative vibe and the mindset that this is going to suck! You are asking
yourself, “How am I going to do this if I cannot have my (insert favorite food)!”
It is pretty well known that most weight loss diets fail. The percentages of failure range from 70-98% but
nonetheless, that percentage is way too high. And what constitutes failure is that they regained all the
weight they lost or ended up heavier than when they started.
I think if you were to ask all of those people beginning a new fad diet whether they could see themselves
doing this diet for the rest of their lives, their answers would’ve been an abrupt “no”.
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THE MOST SUSTAINABLE APPROACH
T​ he biggest problem with most diets is that they are a one size fits all model. They give you the rules and you
have no input on the process at all. Think back to a time in your life when one of your parents, teachers or
boss’ said, “This is how it’s going to be and that’s final.” And think about what was going through your head
when they said that. Something probably along the lines of, “Ohh shut up. I”m going to do what I want!”
When I work with any of my clients, one of the first questions I ask them is, “If we were to create the diet you
could do for the rest of your life, what is the one food that would have to be in there?” This simple question
puts them in control of their success. Most people’s success in a diet comes down to the one food choice
that they absolutely must have. What food is that for you?
Before I started training with Zach and utilizing his flexible dieting strategies, I had been on medication for
high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type II diabetes for over 20 years. When we first met, he asked me
what was the one thing I could not do without in my diet and I answered it was my ice cream at 7pm every
night. I was waiting for him to say I couldn’t have it anymore like any of the doctors, dietitians, and any other
health professional I’ve seen but he said ok lets keep that in our diet! I was stunned and confused! After 3
months of his training and him helping me learn how to create a diet around my lifestyle with flexible dieting,
I am not longer on any of my medications! Ohh and I am able now eating almost twice as many calories as I
was before! Nice perks I might say! I can honestly say that Zach and his coaching has given me a new lease
on life and has shown me that I have way more life to live!
Doug’s 1 month transformation at 72 years old!
THE FLEXIBILITY IS KEY
S​ o by now you are starting to understand why most diets work in the short run but fail in the long run or even
make matters worse.
• Trick you into eating less calories
• Make it easy to follow by giving you only a select few food options to choose from.
• Leads to “good” and “bad” classifications of foods leading to bad relationship with food.
• See foods they allow you to eat as “good” and the food that are off limits as “bad”. This leads to a
substantially increased risk of developing eating disorders.
• Also, makes most of your favorite foods off limits which leads to an increased risk of binging on them
later on. (find study proving this)
So this is why I love Flexible Dieting so much. You are able to tailor your diet to your specific, unique
situation. You are in control of your food choices and what you want to spend your budget of macronutrients
on. If you love ice cream, you can fit it into your budget.
If you want a burger, you can fit it into your budget of macros. God forbid, if you want taco bell, you can try
and fit it into your budget. By no means am I saying that you should eat these lower quality choices of foods
all the time but I am saying that you have the option without feeling like a terrible person afterwards.
8​ 0% of our diet should be made up of high quality, minimally processed, nutrient dense foods but 20% gives
you that flexibility to be flexible and live your life!
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WHY BREAKFAST IS A FRAUD:
MEAL/NUTRIENT TIMING 101
How many times in your life have you heard that, “you need to eat breakfast because it is the most important
meal of the day!”? I can guess it is a lot. You heard it from your parents, grandparents, friends, coaches, on
television, and everyone else under the sun.
Growing up, I just assumed it to be true just because everyone was saying it. But have you ever thought
about whether it was actually true or not?
In this post, I am going to be covering everything about meal timing from whether breakfast really is the
most important meal of the day to whether eating carbs at night will make you fat and much more. ​
Here’s exactly what I’ll be covering:
1. What is meal timing?
2. The Breakfast Myth
3. Carbs at night make you fat?​
4. Intermittent fasting
5. Eating every 2-3 hours and your metabolism
6. Pre and post workout meals
7. How to customize to your own personal lifestyle
8. Let’s get this myth busting party started!
1. MEAL/NUTRIENT TIMING:
​ HAT THE HECK DOES MEAL/NUTRIENT TIMING MEAN?
W
Simply put, it is eating specific nutrients (proteins, carbs fats) in specific amounts, at specific times.
These specific times or amounts may be:
• ​Breakfast
• Before, during or after workout
• Before bed
• How often you eat
• How big your meals are
• How many meals
KEEP THESE THINGS IN MIND:
I want you to remember the two factors that are most important in regards to body weight and body
composition.
1. Calories In vs Calories Out determines whether we lose or gain weight.
​If you eat more than you burn then you will gain weight.
If you eat less than what you burn then you will lose weight.
2​ . Macronutrient Ratios are what determine our body composition.
If we hit our macros for the day, then we hit our calories for the day.
Our most important goal is to hit our macronutrient goals for the day.
Remember these two key points when reading todays post because they will help you understand meal
timing and the role it plays in our nutrition/goals/lifestyle.
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2. THE BREAKFAST CLUB
THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY?
We hear it everywhere, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” My whole life I have been told this
story over and over again and up until 2 years ago, I thought it was true.
When you think about it, our bodies have been fasting for 8-12 hours and our bodies are primed to use
nutrients more effectively than other times of the day. So of course you would think that breakfast would be
essential! And studies seemed to back this up the past 20 years but they jumped to conclusions a bit too
soon.
CORRELATION VS CAUSATION
After reading best selling author Dr. Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Science, I learned how to sift through the
garbage that most studies claim. This book was life changing so I highly recommend giving it a read.
The most important thing I learned from Dr. Goldacre’s book was that almost every study you see publicized
on the news or on the internet have made claims from correlational research and not causal research.
Correlation = X and Y happen at the same time
Causation = Y happens because of X
This correlation came from research showing that breakfast skipping is associated with higher body weights
in the population.
Let’s go back to our timeless phrase that we’ve heard our whole lives that “breakfast is the most important
meal of the day.” Well because most everyone still believes this, those who skip breakfast more than likely
have deregulated eating habits and have a higher disregard for their health.
Not to say everyone who skipped breakfast is like this but this is where the negative association with
skipping breakfast came from.
THE NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST MYTH: WE ARE DOING IT ALL WRONG….
Lets look at the macronutrient profile of a typical brekafast in the U.S:
• A typical bagel has: 270 calories, 2g fat, 52g carbs, 10g protein
• 3 serving cream cheese (because 1 serving of cream cheese is much smaller than you think): 300 calories,
27g fat, 3g carbs, 6g protein
• 2 servings orange juice (because 1 serving of orange is about half the glass not a full glass): 220 calories,
0g fat, 52g carbs, 4g protein.
Total for typical American breakfast:
790 calories, 29g fat, 107g carbs, 20g protein
If you know me, I’m not a huge fan of the distinction between “good” and “bad” food choices but in regards
to someone starting their day of on a bad note, this breakfast would be doing so! And why is that? Let me
use a great example to illustrate what this does to the rest of your day.
This was one of my client exact breakfast he had been eating for the past 3 years. He starting working with
me because he had put on a substantial amount of bodyweight/body fat. Based upon his activity level, goals
and current condition, I prescribed his goal macros to hit daily were:
1810 Calories
175g protein
70g fat
120g carbs
Ok lets go back to our breakfast from earlier and analyze what this did to his macros:
After breakfast (7:30am), he would only have 13g of carbs left while having 155g of protein and 41g of fat left
to hit for the day. Do you see how he kinda screwed himself over for the rest of the day? It would be almost
impossible to hit your protein without going over on your fats and carbs for the day.
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SO WHAT THE HECK DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BREAKFAST!?
1. If you enjoy breakfast, eat breakfast
​If so, make sure it’s a high protein breakfast so you do not have to play catch up all day on your macros
2. If you are not hungry in the morning, skip breakfast.
​But if you do skip breakfast, just know that in order to hit your macros for the day you will need to be eating
bigger meals to make up for skipping breakfast.
I wake up around 5:45am every morning and usually do not eat anything until around 11:30 am. I personally
like to eat bigger meals (upwards to 1000 cals per meal) so this strategy works out well for me. I will give a
more in depth run down of how I structure my meals later on in the post.
It is really that simple. There is nothing special about breakfast. The biggest thing we need to worry about is
overall hitting of your macronutrients. You are going to notice this theme over the course of this post just to
give you a heads up.
3. CARBS BEFORE BED WILL MAKE YOU FAT!!!!!
​ ET ANOTHER CLAIM WE’VE ALL HEARD
Y
We’ve all heard this one, “no carbs after 8pm or your body will store all of it as fat!”
This one is easy to rationalize:
• ​Carbs are known to be our fuel for physical activity
• When we sleep, we are not doing next to no physical activity
• When we sleep our insulin sensitivity is reduced at night
• So it is assumed that if you consume these carbs before bed they will be stored as fat because we do not
have any physical demands to use them for
• Sounds reasonable……
CORRELATION NOT CAUSATION
The reason why their is a lot of “bro-science” that is still believed to be true is that “bro-science” always
sounds reasonable! It is so reasonable that it tricks you into thinking it’s true. But our saving grace is amazing
studies and research that allows us to smash the “bro” claims in their tracks
So for our carbs at night make us fat claim, research has dispelled this myth with a wide array of studies.
Remember our correlation not causation example above? This is another example that fits that into the
category of bad science and why you should be skeptical of most nutritional claims/headlines and studies
that come out.
I​ am going to show you right now how this correlation not causation came about. Think about what types of
foods you eat late at night:
• Most people tend to overeat on super duper carb heavy meals late at night.
• So when people substitute overeating on these carbolicious foods with foods that are considered
“healthy”, they tend to lose weight and body fat.
• Since “healthy” foods are normally not calorically dense food choices, the person is not longer eating as
many calories thus they will lose weight and body fat.
• Remember that our bodyweight is determined by calories in vs calories out and by substituting in these
less calorically dense foods, you will be taking in less calories.
• If you want more proof, check out Martin Berkhan’s clientele with the Lean Gains diet where the almost all
their food is taken in a night time.
SO WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CARBS BEFORE BED?
1. ​They do not make you fat
2. Overconsumption of calories makes you fat
3. If you are hitting your macros, then when you eat your carbs is almost irrelevant.
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4. INTERMITTENT FASTING
WHAT IS THIS RAMADAN OR SOMETHING!?
So what is intermittent fasting? ​Intermittent fasting is an eating strategy not a diet. You are simply timing
your meals to where you are fasting for a certain period of time and then have an eating window to get your
calories in.
We all do some type of intermittent fasting every day: We eat in a certain window of time (usually when we
are awake) then fast while we sleep until we have our first meal the next day.
So if you are eating your last meal at 8pm and not eating breakfast until 8am the next morning, then you are
doing a 12 hour fast between meals! Bet you didn’t even realize that you were doing this.
But there are certain intermittent fasting strategies that have become popular:​
• ​The Warrior Diet which is a 20 hour fast and a 4 hour eating window. So that would be fasting between
8pm-4pm the next day and then eating from 4pm-8pm
• The Leangains approach is more modest approach of a 16 hour fast followed by an 8 hour eating window.
This would look like fasting from 8pm to 12pm the next day and eating from 12pm-8pm.
BUT WON’T I LOSE ALL MY GAINS NOT EATING FOR THAT LONG!?
I know you are thinking, “But shouldn’t they be eating every 2-3 hours in order to keep there metabolism
going!?”
The theory goes that is you eat small meals all day long, your body is a furnace and is burning calories thus
keeping that metabolism firing! Sound the “bro-science” alert!!!!!
•​ Whether you eat 2500 calories spread throughout the day or 2500 calories in a small window, your body
will burn the same amount calories processing the food.
• This is called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
• When we ingest a certain of calories, our bodies will burn about 10% of the size of the meal in
calories.
• Ex. If I eat a meal that is 500 calories, then my body will burn 50 calories processing that meal
• Ex. If I eat a meal that is 2000 calories, my body will burn 200 calories digesting that meal
• So if you eat 4 individual 500 calories meals, you will burn 50 calories each so 50 x 4 = 200 calories.
• So your TEF is the same as if you were to eat one huge meal of 2000 calories
Our bodies are super duper smart and we tend to underestimate their abilities to adapt to the circumstance
we put on them.
To paint the picture, think of back when our ancestors, the cavemen, were roaming t​ he field looking for their
next meal. They only ate what they killed and couldn’t go to the local supermarket. So they would go days
without food until they killed something to eat. This is the same concept.
Our bodies operate different during times of “fasting’ and times of “feasting”:
• ​When “feasting” our bodies have a regular supply of food and do not need to rely on stored energy.
• When “fasting” our bodies do not have readily available energy sources so it has to mobilize energy
stored in our bodies (glycogen and body fat)
HOW I PERSONALLY USE INTERMITTENT FASTING
​• My fasting is usually from 8:30pm till around 11:00-11:30am the next morning and my eating window is from
11:00-11:30am to 9:00pm.
• So I am around a 14-15 hours “fasting” and 9-10 hours “feasting” person.
• I do this because it fits my schedule best and I am not entirely hungry from 5:45am to 11:30am. My day is
the most busy during this time period so I do not want to have to worry about food during this time frame.
• I usually workout around 2pm so I make sure to have at least 1000 calories in me before then.
• Also, by eating in a 9-10 hour window instead of a 16 hour window like most prescribe, I am able to eat
bigger meals. I love to eat big meals and do not have time to be preparing 6 small meals all day long. Aint no
body got time for that!
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PRO TIP: WHEN CUTTING
When I am cutting, I really like to start my day with 2 glasses of water and then coffee and hold off on my
first meal to within 1.5-2.5 hours (11-11:30am) before my workout at 2pm. This helps because I am consuming
less calories than I am normally and allows me to eat bigger meals later on in the day.
Also, what I noticed when skipping breakfast and delaying my first meal was that I was actually more hungry
at 11:30am when I ate breakfast than when I did not! Crazy right!? So by skipping breakfast I actually was not
as hungry and had created my deficit for the day by skipping breakfast and could eat my normal big meals
for the rest of the day! It seemed too good to be true but It’s worked like a charm!​
IS INTERMITTENT FASTING FOR YOU?
Well the answer to this is yes no matter what you say. As I stated before, we all do some form of intermittent
fasting through our every day lives.
THINGS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN FIGURING OUT YOUR “FASTING” AND “FEASTING” TIME FRAMES
​1. What would fit my lifestyle the best?
2. Do I like big meals or small meals?
3. Am I trying to lose or gain weight?
• If you are trying to gain weight, I would advise to not fast as long because it will become harder get
enough calories in throughout the day. Not saying you cannot make it happen but it will make it harder!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT INTERMITTENT FASTING
1. We have a set “fasting” period and “feasting” period
2. Eating every 2-3 hours does not give you any extra benefits for your metabolism
3. Pick the “fasting/feasting” schedule that fits best with your lifestyle.
4. Don’t over think it!
5. POST WORKOUT NUTRITION
THE POST WORKOUT ANABOLIC WINDOW OF GAINZ​
“Sorry bro can’t talk, gotta slam this protein shake ASAP so I don’t lose all my gainz!”
Have you ever been that person or known someone who was like that? Trust me I used to be that guys 100%
and believed that it was necessary…. But I was wrong
I​ remember I used to finish my workouts and would sprint directly to my protein shake and knock it back
before anything else. I would purposely ignore anyone that would try and talk to me until I got that bad boy
back.
At the top of the list of the “bro science” ​advice that everyone has received at some point in their lives is
the that after you workout, you need to have a protein shake within 30-45 minutes because our bodies are
greedy for nutrients.
• In theory, strength training or intense athletic movements make our bodies into nutrient processing
powerhouses
• And science displayed that waiting longer than 45 minutes after your workout significantly diminished the
gainz your received from training.
• But this science had a big flaw: It was only supported in the short-term
• Recent studies in the Journal of the Internation Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN have shown that the
“anabolic window of opportunity” is much bigger than we thought.
• They found that the biggest thing that matter is the total amount of protein and carbs you eat over
the course of the day is more important for body composition than nutrient timing strategies like post
workout nutrition
SO IT DOESNT MATTER IF I WAIT 2 HOURS AFTER MY WORKOUT TO EAT!?
My answer is…… It depends
T​ hat JIISN study above did find that post workout nutrition was important in some circumstances (I explain
below)
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WHERE PRE WORKOUT NUTRITION COMES INTO PLAY
• They found that what, when and how much you ate pre workout should determine how long after you
workout your post workout meal should be.
• They found that depending on the size of your meal, the space between protein rich meals can be within
3-6 hours.
• For example: If you ate a big meal 2 hours before you worked out, and your workout took about 1.5
hours, then you have 1.5-2.5 hours to get your post workout meal in.
• A smaller meal consumed 2 hours from the workout would require the post workout meal to be consumed much sooner after the workout. Closer to 0.5-1 hour post workout.
• The same can be said for when you ate that meal.
• For example, if you ate a big meal 4 hours from your workout, then a post workout meal would be
needed to be consumed almost immediately post workout to hit that 5-6 hour window between feedings.
And please note that these findings were to maximize muscle protein synthesis (the anabolic response) from
the workout. Simply put, the building of muscle.
But also note that the term “maximize” denotes a relatively small increase that most everyday lifters
shouldn’t have to worry about unless they want to compete professionally.
SO WHAT THE HECK DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRE & POST WORKOUT NUTRITION!?
1. Definitely not as important to your gainz as once thought
2. You can actually talk to people after you workout without rushing to down a protein shake
3. No more than 4-6 hours between pre and post workout meals depending on size of pre workout meal but
if so, the affects will be minimal.
WAIT ZACH! WHAT IF I WORKOUT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!? AM I
GOING TO LOSE ALL MY GAINZ!?
​Nope! If you workout in the morning, the post workout meal will need to be soon after the workout due to
the fasted state your body is in. Don’t stress but just make sure you try and get something to eat within 3060 minutes post workout.
6. BUILDING THE LIFESTYLE
HOW TO TAKE THIS INFORMATION AND INTEGRATE IT INTO YOUR LIFESTYLE​
Remember our goal with all this information is to mold our nutrition to where it helps up live the lifestyle we
desire. ​I know when you are reading all this information it can seem unbelievably overwhelming but there is
only 1 major theme/question that you need to worry about: W
​ hat would be the best “fasting” and “feasting”
windows for your current lifestyle?
After reading that whole thing it comes down to that 1 simple point! You must be happy its that simple but
pissed you had to read all that to find it out!
​ e all have certain demands on our times each and every day so we have to mold our meal timing around
W
those demands in order to create a nutritional strategy that will be sustainable.
I’ll be the guinea pig and use me as an example of what a full day of eating looks like for me when cutting
and why it is structured like so.
• ​Wake up at 5:45am, heat up water to brew my coffee in my french press, drink a tall glass of water that
has been heated up for room temp in microwave and then get everything ready to head to the gym or any
business meeting I have to go to.
• Then after all my morning sessions at the gym, I am heading home around 11:00am to go have my first
meal.
• This first meal comes around 11:30 am which is about 700-800 calories composed of around 60-70g
• protein, 10-15g fat and 70-80g carbs.
• I workout around 2 and end around 3:30-4pm and then start my afternoon sessions until 7-8pm that
night.
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• So I then have around 5pm a standard sized protein bar and a couple pieces of fruit like an apple or
banana. I am home and start cooking dinner and eat around 8:30pm.
• This meal is around 800-900 cals and a dessert of around 200 calories of some type of macro friendly
dessert. This meal is my biggest of the day.
• I then go to bed at 10:30-11:00pm and repeat this all over again!
IF IT FITS YOUR LIFESTYLE
As you can see, my nutrition complements my lifestyle. I use my nutrition as a tool to live the lifestyle I want
to live rather than other way around.
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EVERYTHING BAGEL
98
CALORIES
4G
FAT
8G
CARBS
7.5G
PROTEIN
INGREDIENTS FOR 2 BAGELS
21g Trader Joe’s Light Shredded Mozzarella
21g Fat Free Cream Cheese
1 Whole Egg
15g All Purpose Flour
3g Baking Powder
Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Put your light shredded mozzarella and fat free cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl.
Add that to the microwave for 20 seconds. Take out, mix, add in your whole egg, then mix some more.
2. Add all dry ingredients (except for seasoning) to a bowl and mix. Add your dry ingredients with your wet and mix those
together. Now, you can add in your seasoning.
3. Spray your donut pan with non stick cooking spray, then fill two spots with the batter. Place that in the oven for 10 minutes.
Don’t open the oven while your bagels are baking. When heat escapes, the temperature of your oven changes.
4. Once your bagels are done, add them to a cooling rack to ensure they cool evenly to room temperature. Then slice each bagel
in half.
5. Add your cream cheese in between your bagel halves, cut in half, then enjoy!
Watch the video
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FAJITA BURGER
483
CALORIES
20G
FAT
40G
CARBS
35G
PROTEIN
INGREDIENTS
4oz 96/4 Lean Ground Beef
14g Lite Mexican Cheese Blend
1 Sesame Seed Hamburger Bun
2oz Avocado
50g Raw Green Pepper
50g Raw White Onion
DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat your Stove Top pan to a 7 out of 10 heat
2) Spray your pan, add veggies and cover to sauté
3) Take your 96/4 beef and season with a little bit of sea salt, then form into a patty with your hands
4) Place your burger onto the stove top pan
5) Once the patty is cooked, add your cheese mixture on top (while still in the pan). Then, cover with a
lid to help melt the cheese
6) Smash your avocado with a fork
7) Place burger patty on the bottom half of the hamburger bun, then add your veggies. Spread avocado
onto the top half of the bun. Finally, put the burger together and enjoy!
Watch the video
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FUNFETTI CHEESECAKE PROTEIN
DESSERT WAFFLE TACO
130
CALORIES
2G
11G
FAT
CARBS
17G
PROTEIN
INGREDIENTS FOR
WAFFLE TACO
INGREDIENTS FOR
10g PEScience Gourmet Vanilla Select
30g Plain Non-Fat Greek Yogurt
Protein
3g Coconut Flour
2g Sugar Free/Fat Free White Chocolate
Pudding Mix (You can use any flavor
pudding mix you want)
25g Egg Whites
1g Zero Calorie Sweetener of your choice
8g Bisquick Heart Healthy Pancake Mix
PROTEIN CHEESECAKE FILLING
1g Baking Powder
2g Zero Calorie Sweetener of choice
6g Sprinkles
DIRECTIONS
1. Take your dry waffle ingredients (not including sprinkles) and mix together in a bowl. Add in egg whites and mix. If
your batter is too thick, add in a little liquid. Once all of that is mixed together, add in your sprinkles
2. Preheat waffle maker, spray with butter spray, and add your batter. Close the top and let it cook for about 2
minutes. Once it’s done, let it cool
3. Take your Cheesecake Filling ingredients to a bowl and mix
4. Now that your waffle has cooled, spread the filling along the middle. Bring the waffle together to form a taco
shape, then take a spoon and flatten out the icing on top
5. You can either eat it as is or put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, which is my preference. Either way, enjoy!
Watch the video
27
PROTEIN DUNKAROOS
dip
macros
dipper
macros
210
CALORIES
2G
FAT
15G
CARBS
33G
188
4G
13G
25G
CALORIES
FAT
CARBS
PROTEIN
PROTEIN
INGREDIENTS
31g PEScience Gourmet Vanilla Select Protein
10g Coconut Flour
40g Unsweetened Apple Sauce
20g Pure Pumpkin
70g Egg Whites
2g Stevia
2g Baking Powder
Ingredients (for Protein Dunkaroo Dip):
31g PEScience Gourmet Vanilla Select Protein
10g Coconut Flour
2g Stevia
Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
6g Sprinkles
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. First, we’ll make the Dunkaroos. Add your dry ingredients to a bowl and mix. Add your wet
ingredients to another bowl and mix. Now, add half of your dry ingredients to your wet and mix together. Repeat this process until it’s all
mixed in together in one bowl.
2. Line your pan with parchment paper, take your Dunkaroo batter and place on your pan in small cookie shapes. These will expand so
err on the side of caution with how big you make each Dunkaroo. Place your pan in the oven to cook for 8-10 minutes, until the tops have
no more wet batter.
3. While your Dunkaroos are baking, whip up your Dunkaroo Dip by adding all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix together. Slowly
add your almond milk in 20g/ml increments and mix. Repeat this process until you have a thick dip like consistency. Then, add your dip
to the fridge to chill.
4. Once your Dunkaroos are done, place them on your cooling rack. Once they’ve reached room temperature, take out your Dunkaroo
dip and enjoy this childhood classic!
Watch the video
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